Iceland, Ireland, and Spain in 1 Week | Route & Itinerary
Nashville to Chicago to Iceland to Ireland to Spain to Ireland to Chicago to Nashville – in 1 week. Total Cost: Less than $1,000.
So if you know me, you know that I am in the business of maximizing my time when I travel. I will make sure I see everything I need to see in as little amount of time as I have, because I never know if I will make it back – why not? Anything can happen, and I want to fill my travels with experiences.
Even if I don’t do new things all the time at home, I will go from day to night when I am traveling just for the fun of it. That is what me and my sister did on this trip. We truly made the most of this whole trip. While I will outline the general itinerary of this trip in this post, each destination will have its own post for more details and specifics on what we did.
Nashville –> Chicago
We started our trip in Nashville. Anyone knows that Chicago has cheaper flights than Nashville. In order to make this trip more affordable, we decided to drive from Nashville to Chicago and get a great deal on our flight. We parked our car in a cheap parking lot (River Street Parking) for 8 days for less than $50. We spent around $430 per person on a round-trip flight from Chicago to Dublin. This is with WOW Air, which if you don’t know, does long layovers in Iceland if you pick the right flight.
Chicago –> Iceland
So we got on our flight and boarded the overnight flight to Reykjavik, Iceland for a 19 hour layover. We arrived around in the morning to the airport and immediately went to get our rental car. Let it be known that rental cars are not cheap, but seeing as we had my sister had never been to Iceland, it was worth it. For around $60 a person, we got to see all of my favorite places in Iceland. We got a cheap sandwich from the airport to save money, and we set out on the road.
Driving in Iceland is amazing in and of itself. Every new turn brings a beautiful landscape straight from a different planet. It was my first time seeing Iceland not covered in snow! We drove all the way to the Southern Coast, wanting to get to the tourist spots early.
We hit the major waterfalls, the black sand beach in Vik, and an amazing valley right out of a storybook, called Fjadraglijufur.
After doing the Southern Coast, we still had daylight left. I wanted to show my sister even more of the beauty that is Iceland, so we drove around the Golden Circle, making sure to stop at my favorite ice cream spot in the world (so far). Efstidalur II is a delicious ice cream, coffee, and restaurant stop on the Golden Circle. The cows that make the ice cream are in a barn that can be seen from the ice cream shop through windows!
After that, we drove back to the airport as the daylight was going away. On our drive back, we were driving through a dark Thingvellir National Park, and we saw the Northern Lights. It was truly an epic day in Iceland.
Our flight wasn’t until the morning, but we only booked the car until 11pm to save on cost, and we slept in the airport as this was a last minute trip and there were no affordable flights. It wasn’t half bad, but make sure you go before the gates close so you can sleep in the amazing single-stall bathrooms in the International Departures Terminal.
Iceland –> Ireland
Early the next morning, we took the remaining leg of our flight from Reykjavik to Dublin. We hit the ground running after that. We had already booked a car ahead of time so we could road trip around Ireland like it should be done. We knew we had 2 days in Ireland with a car (around $120 per person), so we maximized our time and went straight to the road (after figuring out how to drive on the left side of the road…).
The first day, we went to see the Blarney Castle for a couple hours. We toured around the whole castle, got some coffee and cokes in the gift shop and hit the road again. We were staying in a hotel in Killarney that night, but first, we wanted to do the entire Ring of Kerry from start to finish before the sun went down.
We started off getting gas in Killarney and journeyed through Killarney National Park going southwest on the drive. It was gorgeous, and there were pictures to be taken on every tiny road we drove. By sunset, we had made it to the Kerry Cliffs. They are truly underrated. It was an amazing sunset, standing on the edge of the cliffs as one of two sets of people there. As the light was going down, we made our way back to Killarney for the night.
The next day, we went from Killarney to the Cliffs of Moher. It was a beautiful drive, and we got there before most of the tour groups, which was a big plus! We walked along a large portion of the cliffs and took in the magnificence of the attraction. It got quite crowded after a couple hours, but we went and got a an amazing croissant and locally-made fudge from Moher Cottage that overlooks a beautiful view. Highly recommended!
After that, we drove through the coastal town of Doolin. The houses were beautiful. Although we only did a portion of the Wild Atlantic Way, we could have spent our whole trip driving that road. Everywhere you turn, there is a beautiful view overlooking the ocean or castles on the sea. One castle we stopped at was Dunguaire Castle.
After that, we went to Galway for the afternoon and evening. In Galway, we walked around for hours taking in all the sights. We saw the Spanish Arch, The Docks, Eyre Square, and the Galway Cathedral. The city has a young and vibrant feel, and it was a nice size compared to Dublin. On our way to our Airbnb in the cutest cottage in Glenamaddy, we stopped and got fish and chips (a must-do). We ended up walking into a random little restaurant that was empty – I don’t even remember the name. The food was delicious.
After spending a cozy night in our Airbnb, we hit the road back to Dublin to catch our midday flight to Barcelona.
Ireland –> Spain
Our 2 hour flight from Dublin to Barcelona only cost around $90 per person, round-trip. We arrived in Barcelona around 4pm, and we had booked an amazing Airbnb quite some distance from the city. It was an hour drive by car, and we had planned on taking the bus. After discussing our options, we decided to just go to the ticket counter of Sixt, my favorite car rental company.
We talked to the nicest guy who helped us book a car right then and there for a great price (only around $75 per person for 2 days!). It was a life saver, as we were able to drive through the city to our Airbnb and watch the sunset from the beautiful terrace overlooking a mountain. That night, we went to the gas station to pick up the food for our time there to save a little money.
The next day, we got up bright and early, as we wanted to get to the Montserrat Monastery. It is about an hour drive from Barcelona, but it was my favorite part. It is a monastery built into the side of a massive mountain, home of the Black Madonna. The views from this place and the intricacy of the architecture are well worth the scary drive up the mountain.
After that, we went back to the city for the rest of the day. We only had one full day in Barcelona, and we were going to do a DIY walking tour of the city. We parked in a parking lot near Parc Guell and headed down (because if you know Barcelona, you know that Parc Guell is at the top of a massive hill).
In the city, we saw Casa Battlo, Arc de Triomf, Ciutadella Park, La Sagrada Familia, and ended with Parc Guell. Just walking around the city would have been enough. The entire city has a young and vibrant vibe that feels like everyone is park of one big community. It has culture and history, yet everyone is young and out doing things in the middle of the day. All of the sights were magnificent, especially La Sagrada Familia.
Around dinner, we ended up going back to the Airbnb to watch the sunset and rest after a lot of walking (24,000 steps). The next morning, we had a flight back to Dublin, but first, we wanted to see the beautiful beach town of Sitges. We ended up driving around that city and along the coast, and it was worth the $6 toll it took to get there. We then took the car back and got ready for our night in Dublin.
Spain –> Ireland
That afternoon, we flew to Dublin. Our flight ended up getting delayed, and we were extremely worried because we had a tour booked at the Guinness Storehouse. We got back to Dublin about an hour before the last tour started. We had to catch the Airlink that takes you from the airport to the city, and our stop was close to the last one. We ended up getting off a couple stops early, and we booked it to Guinness.
That experience was well worth the panic. The entire storehouse is built upwards, and it takes you up around 6 floors, explaining the Guinness process, tasting rooms, and the Gravity Bar that gives you a 360 degree view of Dublin. It was cloudy and rainy, a typical day, but the views were still incredible, and the beer was even better.
After that, we did a short DIY walking tour of Dublin. We saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Ha’Penny Bridge, and then we met my friend at Trinity College where she goes. Unfortunately, the tours were over by that time, since it was late, but she gave us a tour of the college since she is a student, and we learned so much! We ended at our hotel that night, a short walk from the main sights (and still cheap!), and got a good nights rest before our long travel day the next day.
We woke up the next day not ready to go home. Fortunately, our hotel had a full Irish breakfast provided, which was a great send off from our time there. We caught the Airlink back to the airport, and we started our journey back home.
Ireland –> Iceland
Unfortunately, we only had a 7 hour layover this time, so we decided to relax in the airport. It was fine by me, because I love the Keflavik Airport. It is sleek, modern, and like I said before, it has the best bathrooms. The other great thing is that they have one cafeteria-style food court area with great food. We got to just relax, watch Netflix movies from other countries, and read. After 7 hours, we got back on our overnight (Europe time) flight back to Chicago.
Iceland –> Chicago
We flew back to Chicago, and we hit some crazy turbulence. Thankfully, we had the middle seat open up by us at the last moment, and it saved the day. We were able to get a little bit of sleep, because when we arrived in Chicago, it was only around 10pm. We had to go through customs, get back to our car, save money and drive back to Nashville that night. We were tired, but we were determined.
Chicago –> Nashville
After the longest car ride of my life, we were back in Nashville around 7am. We were exhausted, but we had so many great memories to keep us going.
As you can see, going the easy route or seeing every little thing is not what is important. The important thing is going – making the effort to get out of your comfort zone and experience something new. Even on a very tight budget, you can make it happen because if it’s a priority. Even if you only have 1 week, you can still see at least 3 new countries!
Fast-travel is my jam, and I love to share that it is possible for other people like me. You never know what can happen from one day to the next. It is so important to get out there and follow your dreams before it is too late.
